Journal, Cabinet, Multilingual Parlour, Untranslated Conference Room, Repository of Erudite Pastimes, even a Gymnasium for the Polemist and the Humorist; Consacrated to Oddities and Facts Concerning Peculiarities of Theatrical Amusements related to the Circus, Conjuring, Comedy etc.; their Connections with Fine Arts; the Uncovering the Curiosities of their Past, and the Critical and Hopefully Provocative Account of what of Interest is Remaining of their Uncertain Present. Profusely Illustrated.

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Friday, October 19, 2007

Acrobats...

The Nicolodis andthe golden age of music-hall acrobats

Nothing is for man closer to real flight than the purety of acrobatic. In a time when acrobats tends to sophisticate their gifts with elaborate coreographies and boutique presentations, we wish to remember the recent but gone era of night clubs and classical circuses. An era when acrobats graced the surreal twists of their bodies just with simple smiles, gazes to the girls in the house, or a bit of humor in real contactwith the audience. They presented themselves as normal peoples, supported by a live band, seemingly enjoing the frenesy and the apparent easiness of their instead incredibly hard tricks.

This is the case of the Nicolodi, a family that for five generation have been performing in each corner of the globe, in front of admiring crowned heads, distracted jet-set tourists, or amazed family audiences in european villages.

I happened to spend for few years, the late 80s, nights after nights in the Moulin Rouge dressing rooms: hearing the audience and band during the acts, then seeing appearing the calm, sweating performers, as coming after a trip in an unreal world. The Nicolodi act was costumed as a kind of gala italian waiters, serving the most energetic acrobatic specialities ever compacted in the law of the seven minutes. Everytime you felt their act was finished, you had more.

Today this kind of acts just doesn’t exist anymore; but we can still gaze for seven minutes into the past.Ladies and gentleman: the Nicolodi Troupe.

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Raffaele De Ritis

Impostor of the international stage arts, he is said out from a noble estinguished family of Southern Italy. From childhood he attempted escapes to the strolling life. Without refusing an academic theatrical education in Rome and Paris, he began to earn his life in the frequentation of carny barkers, crocodile hypnotists, quick-change virtuosos, aerialists, actors, ballet étoiles.Nobody knows why and when producers began trusting in his directorial services, spreading his signature around the globe: from Savary, Brachetti, or Larible; to American sanctuaries as Big Apple Circus or Cirque du Soleil. It is in his hands that Feld dared to put the concept of Barnum’s Kaleidoscape; and the Princess Grace Theatre of Monte Carlo or Spoleto Festival trusted for magic events or Shakespeare stagings.He wrote books and dictionaries about theatre, circus and magic; his signature infestated in the last 20 years major international circus periodicals. Mentalism, training of escapologists, academic lecturing on silent movies are other ways to assure his existence besides writing and directing.Mixing forgotten Martini recipes and tracking theatrical memorabilia are his beloved pastimes.